Ch. 186..190: Charmed by the Billionaire CEO Chapter 186-190

Chapter 186: Using Noah’s name

Tristan kept staring at her. He didn’t know not seeing her for even a single day would make him go crazy.

Understanding his mistake, he promised not to repeat it again.

While the couple was having their private time, the camera installed inside the dining area captured their moment.

"Enjoy your happy time Tristan, soon your entire life is going to be on a run" Gabriel’s muttered looking coldly at the screen in front of him and smirked.

Once the couple returned back to their room, Tristan cornered Ashley pinning her against the wall, and kissed her hungrily.

Ashley too didn’t protest and let him kiss her. They had yearned for each other and now, they don’t seem to find any obligation to hold back their love.

"I missed you so much Ash," Tristan said in between the kiss.

"I missed you too Tristan" Ashley didn’t hold back her thought.

Only she knew how hard it was for her to not have him around but now, she didn’t care. She wouldn’t force him anymore because her one push could pull the apart and never in her dreams she wanted to experience the same pain she went through for a single day.

Her words ignite the burning desire in him and he deepened the kiss, invading her mouth and thrusting his tongue into her cavern.

Tristan tasted every corner of her mouth until she gasped. His left hand held her curve while the right one reached to cup her breast.

Ashley let out a raspy moan when she felt him squeeze her boob. Slowly her legs began to lose their strength and she held on to his shoulder for support.

Lifting her, Ashley wrapped her legs around his waist and Tristan carried her to bed. Keeping his lips busy, Tristan made her sleep on the bed and hovered her underneath him.

His dick started to poke under his pants urging him to come out, but Tristan didn’t allow it. He was so engrossed in kissing her that he didn’t mind the little pain he felt because of his hungry crotch.

While Tristan was busy exploring her mouth, nibbling and sucking her lips, Ashley felt his member poke her stomach. Pushing him lightly Ashley broke the kiss.

Tristan looked at her in confusion and watched her eyes lower looking down, "You need a release" she mumbled bringing back her attention to his face.

Ashley knew how active his member was, who gets excited with just a simple touch. Sensing its urgency she slowly moved her hand down to his crotch and held it.

Tristan rolled his eyes and buried his face in her neck mumbling," Faster"

Reacting to his words Ashley pushed him away flipping their position and settling above him. Looking at the erect she quickly unzipped his pants sliding down to his knees and watched it flung outside all with glory.

Tristan was feeling so shy when he saw her look at it with her bulging eyes. He wasn’t at fault because this member of his would get excited at the sight of his wife.

"Will you stop looking at it like that" Tristan said covering up his face as he himself was ashamed of how demanding it looked.

Snapping out of her trance Ashley cleared her throat and quickly held the length in her palm. She was slowly moving her hand up and down when she heard Tristan moan.

Averting her sight from the hardened dick, her eyes followed the direction of Tristan. The way he let out a soft moan by biting his lips showed how much he was enjoying the touch of her hand.

"Faster Ash," he said furthermore and opened his drowsy eyes that stared at her hopefully.

Ashley had already done it before and now she knew when and how it would give Tristan immense pleasure.

Fastening her pace she began moving her hand at double speed. The entire room was filled with Tristan’s grunting voice. It didn’t take him long to reach his climax and cum on her palm.

Panting heavily Tristan tried to calm his breathing and opened his eyes. The way Ashley had become a pro, making him cum by giving him a hand job was tremendous.

Wiping her hands off Ashley crawled back falling next to him and smiled in contentment," You are always in need of release"

" It’s all your fault. You make him tempted to the extent that it keeps standing up at your sight" Tristan said pulling her closer for a kiss.

****

Stopping the car in front of Alice’s studio, Noah stepped out of the car followed by Alice herself.

Standing in front of her, he was about to hug her good day but stopped when he saw her distress.

"Alice," he said her name breaking her thought and she looked at him in a daze.

"Huh!"

Alice’s mind kept drifting back to Avera’s words. After so much thinking, she still couldn’t come to pinpoint the person whom she would doubt for creating such a misunderstanding.

Avera confidently said it was Noah who was behind Dylan’s misery but when she asked Noah about it indirectly why wasn’t he surprised at all?

"Is something bothering you?" Noah asked when he again saw her spacing out.

Last night, she too made him confused with her behavior and even now she looked lost as if something was bugging her.

Alice saw Noah’s concern for her. She could tell that Noah had no clue about his name being used to create problems between him and Dylan and before Dylan could come pointing fingers at him she wanted him to know what was happening behind his back.

"Remember last night, I said Avera came to meet me. It wasn’t actually me whom she wanted to talk" her words made him frown.

Yes, last night she had said him about Avera’s visit to their place but he was least bothered to know the reason. But now that she bought up the same topic, it seemed like there was something important hidden in her arrival.

"It was you whom she wanted to meet" her words took him by surprise.

"Me!!" he asked in disbelief.

Noah had just met Avera once and that was when he was with Alice in that restaurant. Apart from that, he never once came to cross paths with her ever again.

She was just Dylan’s fiancé whom he was introduced to and Alice also seemed to know her.

"Alice, I swear on you there is nothing going on between us" Noah tried to defend himself.

The way she was stressing over Avera’s visit made him think about her doubting his loyalty towards her. He had no relation with Avera, then why did she want to meet him?

Alice knitted her brow and crossed her hands in disbelief. God had forgotten to give him a piece of mind. Why would she doubt him having an affair with Avera when she knew this man had come out clean rinsing his playboy image.

"I only and only love you. And you know that" Noah declared ready to cry if she didn’t believe him.

Chapter 187: Familiar face

Alice rolled her eyes watching him act all stupid. Why on earth did he think she would think that he was cheating on her and that too with Avera, whom he didn’t know?

She could only sigh mentally understanding one thing about Noah and it was, this man had no sense of thinking. He would assume anything without using a single cell of his brain. She doubted how he became the CEO of such a big gaming company.

"Noah...." Alice tried to make him shut his mouth and when he didn’t she had to raise her voice.

"Will you shut up Noah Wayne" her frustrated tone made him silence his nonsense and he pouted his lips when she glared at him.

Noah looked like a scared puppy who was being scolded by his owner. The way Alice shot a glare at him made him silence his voice in no time.

Pinching the bridge on her nose, Alice sighed and looked back at Noah, who now obediently stood in front of her with his lips sealed.

"Avera asked me to help her?" she said once she felt he wouldn’t speak a word unless he had to.

Noah creased his brow but didn’t voice his thought and waited for her to continue.

"She wants me to stop you from targeting Grey international as it’s already facing a lot of financial issues" finally she finished telling what she wanted to since last night.

"But why would she think it’s me who is targeting Dylan? I haven’t seen him since that one last meet"

After Alice found out about Dylan’s kidnap, she asked him to never act so immaturely. She wanted to live a happy life with him and for that, she didn’t want to associate with the people who made her life hell.

He understood her reason and after that day he never tried to invade Dylan’s life then how come Avera thought, it was him, who is behind Dylan’s misfortune?

"Even I’m thinking the same. Last night I tried to see your reaction after I mentioned her name and when you acted unbothered, it cleared my doubts. Some else is using your name to avenge their grudge against the Grey and now we had to find who that person is"

Alice was not going to let anyone drag Noah into a mess when he had no hands in bringing Grey International down.

While Alice was busy implementing ways to get into the deep information, Noah had other things going on in his mind. He doubted there was someone from the outside who was using his name to bring Grey company down.

After a lot of brainstorming, he finally linked the dots, and his eyes narrowed thinking of the possibility of that one person who would somehow is behind all this.

Biding goodbye to Alice, he drove to the place where he thought to find the real culprit.

****

Brown Mansion

Sitting on the couch, Ashley was busy reading the script. She only had a day to prepare and now after sorting out all the misunderstandings, she fully indulged herself in her work.

As her eyes were fixed on the paper in front of her, Tristan on the other hand sat on the bed leisurely folding his arms, admiring the beauty.

He was observing her every minute actions. The way she bit her lips, how she tuck the hair strand behind her ear, the way her pupil contracted when she couldn’t understand something.

Every single reaction of hers was mentally noted by him. Ashley informed him about the script Finn picked for her and he was proud that she was receiving such opportunities to prove herself in different fields.

Admiring her for a while Tristan averted his attention when he started getting turned on by her mere actions. Before he start demanding, he thought it was better to divert his attention from her.

Climbing down from the bed, he walked towards the balcony and stepped out. Since it was the first time he paid a visit to the Brown mansion, Tristan had not taken a tour of the property.

Just like the Knights even the Browns were very influential people. Richard Brown built his empire solely by himself but never let his success ruin his mind. He was a man with family values and preferred to be sticking to that tradition. Tristan admired that about him.

He was a one-woman man who loved his late beloved wife and never married again just for the sake of his daughter to have a mother figure. He bought up his daughter by fulfilling both parental responsibilities never letting Ashley feel the absence of her mother.

As Tristan was busy roaming his eyes around, suddenly he felt a pair of arms hug him from behind. Knowing the person, he held those arms and pulled that person to face him.

"I didn’t expect you to finish your work so quickly" Tristan wrapped his arms around Ashley’s waist and leaned forward to kiss her.

"Umm..." Placing her palm on his lips she stopped him and he creased in confusion.

"I don’t want to indulge myself in another heated session. I am too tired to start one" Ashley advised to stop him before one kiss lead them to their bed and they end up having sex again.

Clearing the crease, Ashley removed her hand and saw him grin," So you already know where it goes" Tristan teased when she caught him and the next second received a slap on his arm.

"Shameless" she sneered and turned around looking ahead.

From her balcony, Ashley could see the entire view of the vast lawn. As she looked around she found many servants all over doing the respected job when her eyes turned to the other side and she frown.

"Why is she coming from there?" Ashley muttered when she was Tori walking from the forbidden area.

No servant was allowed to invade the area where the dungeon was situated. Even Richard himself didn’t trespass the boundary.

Tristan followed Ashley’s gaze which was fixed on a woman dressed in maid’s attire. His eyes narrowed when he found the woman somewhat familiar. He couldn’t pinpoint where he had seen but something about her felt like he had seen her somewhere.

"Who is she?" he asked breaking Ashley’s attention and she answered," She’s Tori, the assistant chef. But... why is she not inside the kitchen area" Ashley mumbled and watched Tori head inside the house.

Tristan creased looking at the woman when Ashley averted her attention back on him ignoring Tori," Maybe she wasn’t informed about not trespassing in the forbidden area inside the property.

Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked at her, nodding his head. Something about that girl name Tori made him feel familiar but he brushed off his thoughts thinking maybe he was pondering too much.

*****

Stepping inside the house anxiously Tori headed towards the maid’s quarter and entered her room. After installing the spy cameras she was directed by a new task. She was asked to scan the entire property, sending pictures of every location she would visit.

She had no idea what her boss was planning to do but she did as told and send every picture she captured inside her personal phone. Once she was done, Tori was about to place her phone back into her bag when someone walked inside.

"Tori!" Piper’s voice startled her and she froze on her spot with her back facing her. Her grip on the phone tightened as she rampages her brain to think if she was caught.

Standing with her back still facing Piper, Tori immediately hide the phone in her pocket and turned with much hesitation.

"Why are you still here? Come assist me in preparing the lunch" Piper said as she sharply examine Tori’s behavior.

Forcing a smile, Tori nodded her head and walked towards Piper, as they both stepped out of the room heading to the kitchen.

****

Noah stopped his car in front of Wayne Mansion and stepped inside the house in haste. If his doubts were clear then he should confront the person who was trying to invade his life.

"Mom!!!" sprinting inside his parent’s room Noah called his mother.

Anna was relaxing on her bed with a face mask on when Noah’s loud voice broke her peaceful time.

Opening her eyes, she watched her son stand in front of her with his hands on his waist as he kept panting while glaring at her furiously.

"Is this how you greet your mother" pulling herself lazily she removed the mask from her face, throwing it inside the small bin next to her bed.

"I told you not to invade my private life mom. Then why did you target Dylan’s company when I had already warned him to stay away from Alice"

Noah didn’t beat behind the bush and came straight to the point. He knew no one apart from his mother was capable of going against his words. He just let his guard down when she accepted not meeting Alice unless he introduce them.

But he forgot, his mother had other ways to poke in between.

Chapter 188: Fine!!... it’s me

Clearing her throat Anna averted Noah’s scrutinizing gaze. She knew whatever he was saying is the truth.

"W-What are you talking about? Why would I do that?" Anna tried her best to act innocent but failed when Noah scoffed.

"Don’t act dumb mom. I know you more than anyone else. It’s you who took away your share from Grey’s international and even manipulated the other shareholder to change their thoughts on working with them"

On his way home Noah searched through the issue which Avera mentioned to Alice and it turned out that it was his parents who decided to take out their shares leaving Dylan to face financial issues.

Even Avera’s father being one of the shareholders couldn’t fill the mark. Dylan’s company was already on the brink of bankruptcy and Avera’s father stepped in like a godfather saving the company from the crisis.

He loved his daughter Avera and he couldn’t see his daughter being with a man who was good for nothing. So he did everything in his means to help the Grey stand back on the ground but even after making everything easy Dylan still couldn’t hold on to his stand.

Avera asked her fathers for help but even raise his hand in defeat which forced her to come to Alice seeking help. She knew Wayne’s had their highest shares in Grey but she wasn’t sure to whom it belonged. She assumed it to be Noah.

Noah waited for Anna to open her mouth and when she didn’t he played his game." Fine if you are not going to accept then forget you have a son. I promise this visit of mine would be the last one"

Noah knew he was Anna’s weakness. Even if she didn’t like the way he lived his life, she still could come to hate him. He was her son after all and just to bring his life on track she kept poking into his matter just in one hope one day he would change his playboy habit.

Alarmed by his threat, Anna jumped down from the bed and yelled, "No... you can’t do that Noah" her facade broke and she looked at him in worry.

Noah arch his brow waiting for her to spill and that is what she did, "Okay fine!!.. it’s me. But how can I not do that when that good-for-nothing man did so much wrong to my future daughter-in-law? How can you expect us to not do anything to show them their place"

Satisfied with her answer Noah let go of his frustration and approach Anna, standing in front of her.

"Oh, mom... I had already warned that guy to stay away from Alice and he kinda understood my admonitory. You should’ve asked dad about it. He knows everything"

Taylor was the doctor who treated Dylan and Vincent even told him everything that Noah did to his son. They had already handled everything but now, with his mother taking the rein in her hand, everything seem to be complicated.

"Yes, that’s why he didn’t take any actions even after knowing what that son of a bit*h did to our daughter-in-law"

The day Anna followed Alice, just to see if the girl wasn’t like those gold digger women whom Noah flirted. And to her surprise, Alice turned out to be a different girl who even manage to win her heart for being who she was.

She was an independent lady who owned a studio and reached heights by working hard. She even learned about Alice’s relationship with her parents and how they never stood up for her when she needed them the most.

"If I were at his place, I would have injected him with an overdose of morphine, completely disconnecting him from this world" Anna didn’t mind if her words sounded crazy, but after learning what Alice went through because of Dylan this kind of punishment seems less for him.

Noah was moved by his mother’s likeness to Alice. Earlier, he thought she was again trying to shove Alice out of his life just like she did before but now, his perspective toward his mother changed.

His lips curled into a smile as he couldn’t contain his happiness. The way his mother used all her power to bring Dylan down showed how much she liked Alice.

Anna frowned when saw Noah turning silent and she snapped her head at him only to watch him smile cheekily.

She never realized her son had the quality of a girl in him.

"Mom... you did all these things just to punish Greys for whatever they did to Alice" Noah already knew the answer but he wanted to listen from his mother.

"Of course, I have already accepted Alice as my daughter-in-law. Now it’s your turn to introduce her to us" Anna proposed to her thoughts making Noah cough.

"Mom... it’s still early for us to get married" Noah didn’t want to rush things and wanted to go with the flow.

Alice was still healing from her past trauma and he didn’t want to force her into marriage yet.

"What did you say? Come again" Anna arched her brow and questioned Noah.

"What does it mean, it’s still early. You are almost twenty-nine and she is twenty-seven. It’s a suitable age to get settled down" Anna didn’t want Noah to prolong his dating and quickly get married because her son was capable of changing his mind over anything and women were his priority.

She doesn’t want Noah to let go of Alice because he still wanted to have fun. Little did she know that her son was damn serious about Alice.

Noah pursed his lips into a thin line when he saw his mother glaring at him. Scratching the back of his neck Noah opened his mouth to speak but Anna stopped him.

"I don’t want any excuses. I am giving you two days, if you don’t come up with an answer then I will personally ask Alice to marry you" without waiting for his reply Anna walked inside the restroom to clean her face leaving Noah in a big dilemma.

****

Inside the kitchen, Tori began assisting Piper when suddenly she asked," What were you doing inside the room?"

Piper’s question made Tori halt her work and she panicked. ’Did she suspicious about me,’ Tori thought pursing her lips, anticipating to come up with a quick, believable answer.

"Um... I wasn’t feeling good. So I just came to take my medicines" Tori said without meeting Piper’s gaze. She didn’t want Piper to sense her restlessness, so she kept her attention on the chopper board ahead.

Tori had come with an ulterior motive inside the Brown mansion and, she didn’t want to get caught before executing her plan.

Piper looked at Tori still finding, her words not matching her actions. She had seen her stuffing something inside the pocket of the uniform.

"Then did you take it?" Piper asked casually bringing back her attention to cooking.

Tori sensed Piper turning her eyes from her and she relaxed, "Yes, I just took it before you came" she said confidently but little did she know Piper wasn’t convinced again because she knew she was lying.

Keeping her thoughts to herself Piper didn’t interrogate Tori more, as she mentally decided to keep an eye on this new girl. The way she was lying made Piper suspicious about the girl’s intention.

Chapter 189: He is the mastermind

Karl’s apartment

"That day I almost got caught" Gwen was currently sitting between Karl’s legs with her back resting on his chest, stated turning her attention on him.

Karl stopped playing with her fingers and creased in confusion. He had no clue what she was talking about which only made Gwen sigh in frustration.

Flicking his forehead, she entirely turned to face him and rephrase her words again," Don’t you remember you gave me a hickey that day"

Gwen didn’t want to say it that loud but this man was acting all dumb when he was the main culprit here. If not for Ashley’s quick action, her mother would’ve noticed the mark on her neck.

When she said the word hickey, the memories of their sweet lovemaking flashed across his mind and his lips curled into a mischievous smile. But soon his smile dropped when he saw her frown.

"Do you think it’s funny" Gwen wasn’t expecting this reaction from him. Instead of being apologetic, he was shamelessly smiling reminiscing about their past actions.

Karl cursed for being a pervert, but what was he supposed to do when that moment left a mark on his heart, making him fall for this girl damn... hard.

Scratching the back of his neck, Karl smiled cheekily before pulling her puffed angry cheeks," Don’t get mad" he tried to change her mood and asked," How did you escape then?"

Gwen’s frown slowly resolve when she heard Karl being serious about her words earlier and she answered," It was sister-in-law who saved me, or else mom would’ve caught me in action" heaving a sigh of relief Gwen turned, resting his back on his chest and leaned down her head resting on his shoulder.

"Now even she knows that I am no longer a virgin" Gwen was still feeling shy to get exposed by Ashley but then her way of handling the situation gave her contentment.

Instead of making her embarrassed, she told her the fact about strong relationships in a friendly way.

Karl smiled circling his arms around her stomach and kissed her head," Good that now you have a friend whom you can talk with" his words made her roll her eyes up at him, passing a smile.

Karl knew Gwen had no friends and now he was happy that she had Ashley who would guide her like an elder sister.

Sitting still for some time Gwen asked," Do you think brother must’ve succeeded in gaining sister-in-law’s forgiveness" even if she wanted Tristan to suffer the consequences of hurting Ashley, she still didn’t want them to prolong their fight. It was too difficult to see them ignoring each other.

Her words made Karl fall into deep thought. He too had no idea if Tristan had managed to mend his mistake. Knowing how desperate Tristan was to return to Ashley showed how much he regretted his action earlier.

"I hope so" he could only guess.

*****

Brown mansion

While Ashley was busy with her work, Tristan decided to visit Richard in his study.

"Can I come in?" Tristan asked knocking on the door.

Richard was busy reviewing some documents, raised his head when he heard a familiar voice.

"Tristan... Come in" Richard smiled asking him to get in.

"I hope, I am not disturbing you," he said stepping inside the room and shutting the door before walking deeper.

"Oh, not at all. I was about to wrap up everything" removing his glasses, Richard got up from his chair and walked to the couch asking Tristan to sit.

Once they both settled down, Richard spoke," I hope you are liking the stay here"

Since it was Tristan’s first time visiting the Brown Mansion, Richard wanted to know if he was comfortable with the hospitality there.

"Yes, it’s homely here" Tristan genuinely answered.

It had been only a few hours since he came here but he was already loving his stay there.

"I am glad you liked it here. I hope Ashley is taking care of you" Richard said with a playful grin making Tristan clear his throat.

He didn’t want to poke his nose into their matters but after he left the breakfast table, he returned back to take his specs when he saw the couple quarrel.

But he was glad that they sorted their problems in no time.

Tristan scratched his head while pursing his lips in embarrassment. But thankfully he didn’t get scolded by him for making his daughter cry.

Finding Tristan embarrassed, Richard didn’t bother to pull his leg and changed the topic.

" You don’t have to get flustered. It’s normal to have fights when you both don’t agree with each other and I am glad you both didn’t take it far and sorted it out in no time"

Richard didn’t know the reason for their quarrel because he was too far from them. But the way his daughter kept neglecting Tristan, he was sure that Ashley was the one who was upset with him.

Remembering their banter, Richard recalled his moment with Raven. Even she was just like Ashley would never like to take a step back unless he gave in. Though he knew she was right always because he was too proud to let his guard down.

Finding Richard smile on his own, Tristan couldn’t stop asking," What’s with that smile"

He was excited to know what Richard was thinking. Maybe he was recalling something related to Ashley. If yes, then he was eager to know.

Taking a deep breath Richard looked at Tristan. The smile on his lips only broaden even more than before and he said," Ashley is just like her mother. Stubborn, always standing up for herself"

His eyes shine remembering his late wife who passed her every trait to their daughter. Watching Ashley made him reminiscence Raven who was just like her.

A smile appeared on Tristan’s lips as he watch the old man talk about his late beloved. He had heard from Grace that Raven was a very kind lady with a strong mindset. The way Grace described Raven he saw Ashley’s reflection in her words.

There was no doubt Ashley was so dear to Richard. Her presence made him keep his wife’s memories alive.

Curious he fully indulged, listening to Richard’s never-ending love for his wife. By the time he finished praising his beloved Tristan felt his heart swell for the man who never stopped loving his wife even now.

His limitless love reminded him of his feeling toward Ashley. Just like Richard, even Tristan was one woman man. He fell in love with the girl who fluttered his stone-like heart bringing it back to life and now he wanted to protect that one person with all his life.

His heart tighten thinking if somehow his enemy managed to take Ashley away from him, then what would he do?

’No... I will never let anyone take Ashley away from me’ Tristan promised himself knowing how Gabriel was trying his best to break his relationship with Ashley just to avenge him to the person.

After spending some time with Richard, Tristan excused himself, walking out of the house, and headed to the garden area. Once he reached there, Tristan pulled out his phone and called Noah.

It had been weak and yet there was no sign of Gabriel. The man whom his men failed to captive, vanished as if he never existed.

After a few rings, Noah finally answered his call," Did you find anything?" Tristan didn’t greet him but came straight to the point.

"I am fine" Noah’s wrong response made Tristan frown and he pulled away his phone confirming if he called the right person. And when he saw it was Noah, he again brought his phone close to his ear and spoke coldly.

"I never asked you how you are" Tristan rolled his eyes when he sense Noah was teasing him.

"But don’t we greet the person you called? These are basic manners Tristan, did you forget" Noah was ready to annoy Tristan, knowing how badly he would get irked when left hanging.

Tristan wanted to get out of the phone and smack Noah’s head for irritating him. When was he going to grow up?

"Noah... If you don’t want me to come there and punch you then answer my damn question" Tristan was slowly losing his cool, gritted his teeth suppressing his anger, and warned him.

Chuckling happily, Noah finally decided to stop teasing him ad answered," I have changed my plan. Instead of following Natalie, it’s better if I keep my eyes on Lucan. I just found him transferring a huge amount of money investing for a cosmetic brand ad"

Noah was currently sitting inside his office and running some checks on Lucas Scott who happened to invest his money in a commercial ad. And when he looked deeper into it, he found Ashley’s name as the model and the face who would be representing the brand.

"And what’s more shocking, Ashley’s name is also mentioned as the brand face"

Tristan frowned when he heard Ashley’s name. Does it mean Lucan invested his money into Ashley’s first commercial ad as an actress? But why...

When he ran his brain only one thing popped into his mind and it was Gabriel.

"It’s Gabriel, not Lucan. He is the mastermind behind Lucan’s every action"

Chapter 190: Purposely pulling his string

Noah had a frown marred on his face. The thought that Lucan was just a pawn in Gabriel’s game skipped from his mind.

"Why is he playing these shitty games. Did he lose his brain in these few years of isolation?" Noah never thought Gabriel was so stupid.

"You are not getting Noah. He is purposely pulling my string because he knows Ashley is my weakness. With his threat lurking around Ashley, he would achieve everything he wants. He just wants to scare me"

Tristan never liked beating around the bush and he expected Gabriel to do the same. But with his cheap trick of provoking him was already wrecking his nerves.

"I swear I will kill him if he even touches a hair on Ashley’s body" this was the last straw of Tristan’s patience.

Gabriel was still stuck on something which was an illusion and never the truth.

After instructing Noah on a few things Tristan ended the call. His eyes held a deep envy that came at the new piece of information Noah just shared with him.

Taking a few deep breaths he tried to calm his rage but every time, the thought of Gabriel getting close to Ashley crossed his mind, and he would feel his blood boil.

The CCTV footage from the launch party he had seen, still kept replaying in his mind, and not to forget the footage from the amusement park Tristan had seen everything.

Gabriel was trying to play dirty by targeting his wife, but before he could succeed in his plan, Tristan would show him his place.

Standing there for some time, Tristan walked back inside the house. Passing through the living area his eyes caught the sight of the same woman he had seen in the morning.

Tori just walked out of the kitchen and was heading to the other side when Tristan stopped her, "Excuse me"

The polite voice coming from behind made Tori halt in her step. She knew to whom this voice belong but then why would he call her?

Tori’s heart began to race with the thought of facing Tristan. Being an assistant chef her main work was only inside the kitchen, so it was easy to avoid meeting Tristan but now this unexpected call Tori was left in a panic.

Tristan creased when he didn’t see her turn and he called once again," Excuse me" this time he called a little loud which broke Tori’s composure, and with much hesitation, she turned.

She only hoped with Tristan’s gawking eyes, he wouldn’t remember her, or else everything will get ruined.

As soon as she faced him, Tori lowered her head and bowed down without uttering a word. She made sure she kept her face down without letting Tristan see through her or else she doubted, her life would be spared.

Tristan looked at Tori and found her behavior strange. She kept her attention on her feet without lifting her head once up.

He was trying to think where he had seen the girl but even after running his thoughts like a train, he couldn’t remember her.

"Can you bring me a glass of water, Please" he stretched the last word hoping she would lift her head but to his surprise, she kept her head down and nod before sprinting back inside the kitchen.

As soon as Tori was back inside the kitchen again she release the breath she had been holding all this time. She never thought watching the Supreme leader of Jaguar after so many years would intimidate her.

After the last fight between her boss and Tristan had almost killed half of their clan members. If not for Elder Master’s words and assurance, Tristan didn’t seem to stop his madness.

The disturbing images from the last war still gave her chills. It was a deadly fight that took the life of many people and the way Gabriel was still aiming to destroy Tristan was leading them to the same destruction. The only thing was there was no one to stop their boss now.

****

Outside

Tristan sat on the couch, waiting for the maid to come out but even after ten minutes had passed she didn’t show up.

"What is taking her so long?" he muttered and stood up to head to the kitchen when Ashley’s voice stopped him.

"I thought you were still with dad" Ashley flashed a smile approaching downstairs to the living hall and walked towards Tristan, standing in front of him.

The second she appear in front of her Noah’s words began to ring in his ears and his face harden.

Ashley saw the change in him and reached her hand to hold his," You didn’t answer me" she softly muttered, breaking his composure and he slowly relaxed.

"I-I just thought to get some fresh air. So after meeting dad I went to the garden area" Tristan’s stuttering made Ashley break into a smile and she leaned in pecking him on his lips.

Ashley took the chance of the vacant space and kissed him taking him by surprise, "Relax... Why do you look like you have seen a ghost"

Watching her pull his leg, Tristan felt like being poked and the next second he caged her between his arms and kissed her again stopping her from smiling.

Ashley was getting naughty with him and it irked Tristan making him stop her by capturing her lips.

Though he pulled back after a few seconds, Ashley finally stopped smiling and a gleam of pink tint appeared on her cheeks.

"Leave me... someone might see us" Ashley wriggled in his arms keeping her head down but even after a few attempts, Tristan still didn’t let her go.

"Oh... so now you are feeling shy. Where did that shyness go when you secretly took a peck from my lips" Tristan purposely reminded her own action just a few minutes back.

She acted all bold and initiated the kiss when no one was around, and now when he was being flirty she was pushing him.

Ashley kept struggling in his arms trying to free herself when she heard a footstep of someone approaching. Panicked she placed her hand on Tristan’s chest and with all her might she pushed him making him fall on the couch.

"Ouch...." Tristan whined but soon compose and was about to pull Ashley down when they heard someone clear their throat.

"AHEM!!.."